Wynyard Woodland Park

I was looking for something free to do this weekend, with the weather on our side I decided to head to Wynyard Woodland Park. A quick look online told me it had a large play park, free parking so the girls were excited to get out and explore somewhere new. We have visited once before but it was early evening for an event being held by Meet my Mascot – Santa at the Station House, so we really had no idea what else was there as it was pitch black everywhere else.

Wynyard Woodland Park is located near the village of Thorpe Thewles. The park can be entered at either end, with access from the A177 and A689. It’s well signposted as you get to the turnoff from the with the brown signs. We headed to the car park and soon realised how much great play equipment there was with the huge peaks of the pyramids in our view.

First, we headed up to the station house with a bed of snowdrops at its foot and the birds cheeping away in the trees around us we all felt super relaxed. Just next to the station house is a railway carriage which I’ve learnt is to soon be back open as a cinema. The girls enjoyed getting up close and walking around it despite it not being open when we visited. I will be keeping an eye out for an opening date as it sounds fantastic. The people behind it and the events at the station house have a website too so it’s worth taking a look at future events.

We walked over to the station and it is now a delightful looking cafe, with beautiful signage on the wooden benches outside my youngest couldn’t resist a pose and soon found it was a little slippy and sloped so we had a good giggle.

We headed left along the path towards the observatory along the path we noticed some display boards with a laminated sheet of info on planets. Sadly some of them were missing but we enjoyed reading the ones that were there. The observatory and planetarium were closed when we visited but it was great to see the building’s and explain a little more about it to the girls.

The girls were eager to get into the play park, as we headed through the gate the girls couldn’t decide which way to turn. There is ample choice for all levels of abilities and age. From sandpits to multi-level pyramids with tunnel slides. As we explored the park I noticed a real mix of ages from toddlers to teenagers enjoying the park with their families.

Now with my two, Willow is the much more adventurous one with play park equipment but they both still had plenty to play on. Whilst Willow was on the tightrope walkway, Lily was happy on the tyre swing. We continued to explore the park and I was really impressed with the equipment.

We easily spent an hour in the play park itself then we decided to head to the woodland and ventured left toward the sculpture by Colin Wilbourne which is named Celestial Kitchen.

Once there the girls took time to look at all the different utensils and soon realised there was much more to the sculpture. They were most impressed with the colander that has holes drilled in it which correspond to the constellations of the northern hemisphere. I spotted a picnic table or two dotted about on the walk perfect for the warmer months.

We headed back along to the station and could see a lot of families all heading out for a walk we headed down to the bridge to see how much of an echo there was. The path was pretty busy this side in comparison to the opposite direction so if you are looking for a less crowded shorter walk I would advise heading left. Just next to the station house we noticed a little-enclosed garden space that had a bug hotel, lots of bird boxes and a small pond too.

For a longer walk, you can follow the walkway which follows the dismantled railway forming a combined walkway and cycle path north (to your right from the station). After a couple of hours here my eldest was getting tired and as she is full of cold I decided it was time to leave and that we would definitely be back to explore the rest and get along the walkway especially to the Pickard’s meadow which sounds fantastic with its wildflowers and ponds. I can see we could easily spend the full day here in the summer months.

Here’s a little video from the day too.

Have you already been to the park? If so what was your favourite part?

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